Review 2023 National Draft Review Thread II [McKercher, Z.Duursma, Goad, W.Dawson, Hardeman, Maley]

[Phillyroo]

I wouldn't take both. If we are locked in on McKercher at 2, we should target a taller mid in next years draft like Jagga Smith. I'd want pick 3 to be one of Duursma/Watson/Curtin/Caddy myself.

Jagga Smith is tall??

 

[SKD]

He doesn’t hit the scoreboard anywhere near what mckertcher does. Kicking doesn’t have penetrating aspects to it. He kicked 5.10 in 9 games at Coates level so not a great shot at goal. Compare mckertcher who kicked 12.16 in 9 games.
Mckertcher is the better more penetrating kick more outside then in. Can go inside but not his strength.
Saunders elite aspect is his ball winning and hand pass out. Can mark well. Kicks short distance when disposing by foot. Inaccurate currently at goal though can mark. I would be concerned at next level as not sure he has breakaway pace could get exposed on outside defensively when ball moves from inside to out.
I like Saunders but Mckertcher currently has more upside. When Saunders is drafted he will be best utilised as an inside mid who goes forward for short periods. I think limited but doesn’t mean won’t succeed.
If we drafted him zero chance you could play him and Phillips in the same side

You think you’d know how to spell their names by now since you know everything about them. Hasn’t 500+ pages on this forum made you realise that it’s MCKERCHER AND SANDERS not SAUNDERS AND MCKERTCHER.

I sound like an old lady.

 

[SKD]

Jagga Smith is tall??

He meant Smilie. Smith is 180-ish.

 

[FootySmartSimpson]

A reminder he had 74 touches and 12 shots on goal in 2 weeks this season against the Chargers and Falcons

Then in the 3rd consecutive game had 14 and kicked 2 in the first quarter before injuring his ankle and going off, he recovered for the final series but was underdone for their final loss.


A purple patch doesn't describe how dominant he was getting in the back end of the year.

He's going to be an absolute weapon for us given our ball winners we already have. Both McKercher and Duursma are match winners and different players to what we have.

Thomas, LDU, Sheezel, Larkey, Wardlaw, McKercher, Duursma is some absolute quality cream.

 

[Shinboner1]

Thomas, LDU, Sheezel, Larkey, Wardlaw, McKercher, Duursma is some absolute quality cream.

RIP Phillips, simpkin and powell.

 

[Val Keating]

It’s fair to say that overhead marking isn’t a feature of his game. Totally agree that distance isn’t a strength. And to be fair his kicking is inconsistent overall. And his size isn’t even average. Lastly he’s pretty one sided.

But as a whole his elite attributes imo include:

1- running power - he’s not quite at the sheezel mark for endurance but he’s close. And he’s way quicker. He runs all day. Add in agility testing and he’s next level again. Theres probably not many, if any better overall runners in the draft.

2- accumulation/consistency - winning the Morrish medal when missing games, coupled with finishing second in the larke medal shows he plays well every game. He does that while getting it over 30 times per game and kicking a goal a game. He got Ashcroft/daicos numbers.

That’s probably his elite level traits imo. There are also things like fit for north, character/drive.

He suits us down to the ground as he offers something we don’t currently have.

Fair enough. My main worry (only slight) was that if his tank is his biggest attribute, because tanks can be built when players enter the AFL system. But that doesn’t seem to be the case for him. Just don’t want a Tom Scully that was drafted so highly because of his running ability.

His highlights do look good, but I haven’t watched many full games this year.

 

[Val Keating]

The way i see it is that Duursma strung a couple of really good games together at the end of the year so he became the shiny new toy whilst at the same time the ever reliable, good toy gets forgotten.

Duursma had been gradually sliding down the rankings up until that point as well due to not having done all that much to stand out earlier in the year. Surely that lack of consistency has to be a bit of a concern?

It’s because Duursma’s potential is right up there. He does things a lot can’t, he could be a star of the comp

 

[berniemccarthy]

Thomas, LDU, Sheezel, Larkey, Wardlaw, McKercher, Duursma is some absolute quality cream.

Pendlebury DeGoey Mitchell Daicos Adams Sidebottom. You need that many top liners to win a flag.

 

[SpiderBurton22]

Well there's only one.

Not according to Facebook

 

[The Nostradamus]

RIP Phillips, simpkin and powell.

I’d rather back these blue chip talents in

And grab Curtin and Watto

 

[ferball]

No it doesn't actually...imo, his delivery by foot is far from elite..speed, burst, tank, and hands is elite but l do see at lot of Merrett in his movement.

Is this the same merrett who'd repeatedly flog us off the spread when we played *?

 

[ferball]

I found it... Completely generated by AI (hypotenuse.ai). I asked the tool to assess North's list needs for this year's draft. I don't recall exactly what I said, but it was nothing greater than a single sentence. I didn't prompt it with any sources.

View attachment 1844761

**** me I thought that was a genuine AFL journalist.

"... since the retirement of Todd Goldstein."

 

[krakouers]

Not according to Facebook
View attachment 1844881

Pick the actual account

 

[ohmygewd]

Is this the same merrett who'd repeatedly flog us off the spread when we played *?

Probably...don't think Roger or Daniel had that elite speed as a junior

 

[Hazey1977]

Why would the eagles pick mckercher at 1 if we have offered pick 2,15 and 17? They can take mckercher at 2

Ego?

On SM-G781B using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[ferball]

Fair enough. My main worry (only slight) was that if his tank is his biggest attribute, because tanks can be built when players enter the AFL system. But that doesn’t seem to be the case for him. Just don’t want a Tom Scully that was drafted so highly because of his running ability.

His highlights do look good, but I haven’t watched many full games this year.

Elite tanks can't be imo. Especially if players are genuinely fast and can repeat sprint.

A player with an average tank can work hard and be able to run all game but when it matters and their opponent with an elite tank is working his arse off to get space at some point that guy with the elite tank will break the other guy even if its just for a play or two while he clears out the lactic acid from his system.

And that's what the game will come down to if its close - those few players with the ability to just get clear a few times when everyone is cooked.

 

[Better Loosen Up]

If Sanders had more strings to his bow then I would agree. But he’s a pure centre square mid with not much versatility. With modern rotations you couldn’t carry too many of Phillips - Sanders types in the same line up, we have to back in Phillips at this point as that pure square player and add nice pieces to the midfield group we have. I think McKercher is a wonderful fit, the added bonus is he’s a left footer and will give our midfield a different look and open up different angles from clearances.

I think he has more strings to his bow than Phillips. He's a Phillips upgrade for sure.

 

[Shinboner1]

I’d rather back these blue chip talents in

And grab Curtin and Watto

If we had picks 6-8 and could grab sanders then sure.

 

[Sphynx]

It’s fair to say that overhead marking isn’t a feature of his game. Totally agree that distance isn’t a strength. And to be fair his kicking is inconsistent overall. And his size isn’t even average. Lastly he’s pretty one sided.

But as a whole his elite attributes imo include:

1- running power - he’s not quite at the sheezel mark for endurance but he’s close. And he’s way quicker. He runs all day. Add in agility testing and he’s next level again. Theres probably not many, if any better overall runners in the draft.

2- accumulation/consistency - winning the Morrish medal when missing games, coupled with finishing second in the larke medal shows he plays well every game. He does that while getting it over 30 times per game and kicking a goal a game. He got Ashcroft/daicos numbers.

That’s probably his elite level traits imo. There are also things like fit for north, character/drive.

He suits us down to the ground as he offers something we don’t currently have.

His speed has to be #1.

His 20m testing numbers didn't jump off the page in preseason, but there's about a dozen examples this year of him completely exploding away and leaving everyone in the dust in game situations. There was a lot of examples of this as a bottom ager last year as well. Almost Judd like in that aspect. LDU is explosive in his first 5-10m, but he's nowhere near as quick as McKercher over 20-30m and sustained distance. Wardlaw the same, he is extremely explosive over 5-10m but not rapid over the ground through the arcs. McKercher uses this regularly in game in repeat possession chains, he reads the play and gets to handball receives quickly....

There's very very few midfielders with this sort of leg speed, you might get one every 3-4 drafts in a midfielder capable of winning this amount of ball.

I really dislike the Merrett comparisons, I don't think he plays anything like him, other than similarities in body size and shape.

He plays more like a young Marc Murphy imo, but McKercher has even more leg speed.

His kicking is certainly hit and miss, I agree with you he's one sided, I'd compare his kicking to someone like McDonald, who is also increadibly one sided on his left.

 

[kool kangas]

If we had picks 6-8 and could grab sanders then sure.

If we had 6-8 Sanders would be gone by then as either the Hawks and Bulldogs would get him...

 

[Psicosis]

Another mid is not the best fit for us
Especially one that is similar to ones we have

Who is similar to a fast line breaking left footer with more outside then inside game that has a big aerobic engine allowing for repeated sprints?

 

[Psicosis]

Who is similar to a fast line breaking left footer with more outside then inside game that has a big aerobic engine allowing for repeated sprints?

Oh that’s right, no one!

 

[Deleted member 98541]

Mckercher debut at 16

 

[Sphynx]

Oh that’s right, no one!

We need McKercher more than we need Reid imo.

If North drafted Reid, I'd expect him to play his first 3-4 years from half back.

McKercher will rotate in and out of the square and off the wing.

We had Dan Howe and Liam Shiels lining up on the wing regularly this season

Now McKercher isn't a natural wingman, will need to learn the role, but his traits suit it perfectly at AFL level.

 

[My Left Foote]

I found it... Completely generated by AI (hypotenuse.ai). I asked the tool to assess North's list needs for this year's draft. I don't recall exactly what I said, but it was nothing greater than a single sentence. I didn't prompt it with any sources.

View attachment 1844761

I love it, it's perfect, it's so generic complete with errors that Goldy has retired and Cunners is still playing, you just know a journo would make a glaring error like that.